Over the past several decades, many applications (e.g., conventional desktop applications) have been configured for use in a windowed environment. A windowed environment is an environment in which applications are displayed in free-floating windows whose positioning is controlled by the applications that are displayed therein. For instance, the applications may be configured to call APIs that enable the applications to position themselves, spawn new windows that layer on top of their existing windows, etc. Accordingly, the windowed environment may have a z-order, which enables windows to be occluded by other windows.
Recent developments in the computer industry have led to applications that are configured for use in an immersive non-windowed environment in lieu of the traditional windowed environment. For instance, applications on devices such as tablet computers and personal digital assistants commonly are configured for use in the immersive non-windowed environment. An immersive non-windowed environment is an environment in which applications are not displayed in free-floating windows whose positioning is controlled by the applications that are displayed therein. Moreover, an immersive non-windowed environment traditionally does not have a z-order and therefore traditionally does not support occlusion of windows by other windows. In an immersive non-windowed environment, an application often is presented full-screen, meaning that the application consumes an entirety of the screen.
Windows® 8/8.1, which is developed and distributed by Microsoft Corporation, configures an entire desktop as an application, which may include all windows for the various other applications that are executed by a device. Accordingly, the application may enable windows to occlude other windows within the context of the application, even though occlusion is not applicable to the immersive non-windowed environment. However, enabling windows to occlude other windows in the context of the application may cause confusion for users.